I used to try home repairs more than now. Experience can be such a harsh teacher. On one notable occasion, my do-it-yourself plumbing “repair” caused a flood inside my home. I was so sure, before the fact, that the initial problem – constant dripping, dripping, dripping from a leaking valve – would only require a simple fix. Not so. If you’ve ever seen Mickey Mouse play the role of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, you can imagine my panic response when water began to spill all over the floor, through the ceiling, etc. “Our first landlord claim,” my wife commented quite casually, as we examined the damage she had unleashed. As embarrassing as the whole situation was for me personally, the hit to my wallet hurt worse. In fact, the dollars I hoped to save by doing the work myself were paid multiple times to meet my homeowner’s policy deductible.

So, I have learned to leave many “simple” repairs to the most skilled. Similarly, I have found in my estate planning practice that people who try to do it yourself risk creating major headaches. An example: a few years ago, a new client came to see me after his attempt to sell his house was completely frustrated due to some of them planning their estate on their own. It all started when he inherited a house owned by his parents. He decided it would be easy to add his three youngest children to the property title. As she explained to me, long after the fact, her intention was to protect the rights of the children on the property in the event that she died. With that in mind, he purchased a waiver deed to fill in the blanks at his local stationery store and recorded the deed. Shortly thereafter, when he decided to sell the property, he learned that adding his minor children to the title created big problems: for the title company, not securing the transaction due to underage sellers; for your prospective buyer, that you would not proceed without title insurance; for your lender; and, by herself. Too late, my client realized that his attempt to do it yourself turned out as well as my plumbing repair exercise.

I have heard variants of this sad story from other estate planning professionals. It is not uncommon, it seems, for well-meaning people to try to prepare their own estate plan without professional advice. I suppose that access to all that free information over the internet, the proliferation of legal DIY kits, and the totally understandable desire to save a few bucks whenever possible have led more than a few enterprising consumers to boldly go where. they finally realize that they want. they had not. Having stood with wet shoes in the puddles created by my do-it-yourself plumbing, I can certainly sympathize. As I learned, and as my client learned, good professional advice can protect you from costly mistakes.

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